Lewis W. Hine: The Truth About Child Labor

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The Truth About Child Labor Lewis W. Hine took this photograph of the little girl standing in the mill in 1911, captured “The Mill: A moments glimpse of the outer world. She said she was 11 years old. Been working over a year”. Employers looked to hire the youth for cheap labor due to rapid industrialization in the United States. In the early 1900’s, there were no laws or regulations protecting the child in the workplace. Lewis W. Hine was hired by the National Child Labor Committee to document and investigate child labor conditions. This photo displays a young little girl who works at the mill standing in front of a window, taking a glimpse of the outside world. While it may seem that the photo depicts the innocence of the child indoors, a closer look suggests that the girl is actually being destroyed by what is already inside the building. This photo may suggest how the child is in the innocence of indoors. The building is very enclosed, only with many large windows running along the side of the building. The large windows suggest that the child may see all that’s occurring in the outside world, however,…show more content…
He suggests that the child is secluded and deprived of normal childhood activities, showing that she’s trapped in a life she doesn’t want to live. She is too young to know any better. This is the life she thinks she is supposed to live. Child labor during these times was far too common for children to think anything different of it. Its what they thought was normal. Lewis W. Hine did a wonderful job portraying the horrors of the lives of children in servitude. Works Cited Hine, Lewis W. The Mill: A moment’s glimpse of the outside world. She said she was 11 years old. Been working over a year. n.d. National Archives Catalog. Blackboard. 15 Sept.
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